An important piece of equipment of a fire fighter is the Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) which provides a fire fighter with a supply of oxygen to breath while engaging a fire. The SCBA allows a fire fighter to fight a fire under conditions where the oxygen levels in the burning structure are dangerously low due to the consumption of oxygen by the fire or where the smoke and noxious chemical resulting from the fire makes breathing difficult or dangerous.
Some fire stations store the SCBA tanks in the equipment bays within the fire engine. After the fire engine arrives at the scene of the fire, the fire fighter straps on the SCBA tank before attending to the fire. The time it takes fire fighters to begin fighting a fire can be critical to controlling the fire. Thus, the extra time required of fire fighters to secure the SCBA tanks once they arrive on the scene can have a detrimental effect on bringing the fire under control. Additionally, when fire fighters do not immediate attack the fire upon arrival, some observers at the scene perceive that the fire fighters are not adequately performing their duties and will sometimes attempt to question the fire fighters, thereby interfering with the fire fighting efforts.
In an attempt to overcome these disadvantages, some fire stations place the SCBA tanks behind the seats on the fire engine. This configuration allows the fire fighters to strap the tanks on while in route to the scene of the fire and thus, begin to fight the fire immediately upon arrival at the scene. In order to produce the time saving advantage, however, the tanks must be attached to the fire engine in a fashion that allows the fire fighter to not only easily secure the tank but also easily disengage the tank from the seat.
Many fire stations achieve these results by simply placing the tanks at the back of each seat without securing them or using very minor securing means such as velcro straps. Thus, the fire fighter belted to the seat acts as the primary means of restricting the movement of the tank. Such a configuration, however, can have extremely dangerous consequences.
It is not unusual for at least one of the seats in the fire engine to be unoccupied when the engine is traveling to a fire. In light of the high speeds and driving methods that fire engines are required to engage in to quickly travel to a fire, however, there is a relatively high risk that the driver of the fire engine will need to suddenly apply the brakes or that the fire engine could be involved in a traffic accident. When such a incidence occurs, there is little or nothing preventing the tank from hurtling out of the fire engine and causing damage to the engine and the surrounding area.
Some proposed systems attempt to overcome these problems by placing the tank in a bracket positioned behind the seat and strapping the tank into the bracket though the use of a latch and a locking tab. The tank is released from the bracket by the fire fighter manipulating a trigger arm that unlocks the tab. As mentioned, in order to be effective, the fire fighter must be able to quickly and easily release the lock securing the tank. One disadvantage of these systems is the difficulty in manipulating the trigger to release the locking tab while the fire fighter is dressed in full gear.
A possible solution to this problem is to attach a cord or rope to the trigger arm so that the fire fighter can unlock the tab by grasping and pulling on the cord rather than attempting to maneuver the trigger itself. A problem associated with this procedure, however, is that to unlock the tab, the trigger typically pivots in the direction in which the tab is exiting the latch. Once the latch is secured to the bracket, the tab usually exits the latch in a horizontal direction. The cord attached to the trigger arm, however, will naturally hang down in a vertical direction. Thus, pulling on the cord will exert forces on the trigger arm in a direction perpendicular to the force needed to release the tab. Such action will inhibit the unlocking of the latch.
A need exists, therefore, for a mechanism that will allow a SCBA tank to be properly secured to the back of fire engine seat while also allowing the tank to be quickly and easily released from the seat.